O’Ward handed home F1 practice run after slating IndyCar’s failure to add Mexican round · RaceFans

McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward will drive in front of his home crowd in a Formula 1 car for the first time at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix.

O’Ward, who has won three times for McLaren in IndyCar this year, will take part in the first practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“I cannot wait,” said O’Ward. “This really is a dream come true for me, being able to jump into an F1 car in front of my home crowd.”

“The car’s been a rocket this year so [I’ll be] trying to do my part and help them as much as I can for the rest of the year. I’ve got Nashville in IndyCar this weekend so that’s my priority now but can’t wait to get going.”

O’Ward previously criticised IndyCar’s management for failing to add a Mexican round to the championship after NASCAR announced last month it will race at the Mexico City track in 2025. American single-seaters last raced at the Mexican circuit in 2007.

“Not only did they beat us there, but now that is not an option for IndyCar,” O’Ward told the Associated Press. “You need to understand that these people save up their money to go to these events.” He has expressed an interest in joining NASCAR for its Mexican round, though it clashes with IndyCar’s race in Gateway.

O’Ward has driven for McLaren twice before in first practice sessions in order for the team to comply with the requirement to run an inexperienced driver in each of its cars over the course of the season. His two previous outings came at Yas Marina in 2022 and 2023. McLaren is yet to announce which driver it will choose to fulfil its obligation under F1’s rules.

With eight rounds of the championship remaining, the Mexican Grand Prix is one of few where teams are likely to replace one of their race drivers for first practice. They prefer not to run inexperienced drivers at street tracks like Baku, Singapore and Las Vegas due to the high risk of damage. The rounds at Circuit of the Americas, Interlagos and Losail are sprint events which feature only one practice session, which teams are even less likely to hand over to a junior driver. That leaves October’s Mexican Grand Prix and the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December as the preferred time to run junior drivers.

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